iFOCUS App
Design for Behavior Change
Through driving a user centered design process beginning with “ask, look, learn” research methods, I uncover a need and surface design requirements for a novel product idea to positively impact a real life problem. The result is iFOCUS, a mobile app and behavior change tool designed to support students to achieve their academic goals.
My Role
Qualitative Research, Evaluative Research, UX Design
Team
Adrian Che, Gabi Duncombe, Julie Mills
Time 9 weeks
Result
Mobile App Concept and Design, Concept Validation
Problem Space
Visit any school library and you will see students diverting their focus away from their studies to look at their phones. As incidents of distraction add up, precious study time slips away and progress slows or stops. Existing research shows that mobile phone distraction while studying results in lower learning retention and lower test scores.
How might we support students while studying, to increase the amount of time focused on the content they are tasked with learning?
Process
Audience: Students Age 18 to 25
When conducting guerilla-style interviews on the UW campus, not one student we spoke with agreed it would be reasonable to turn off their phone for any period of time while studying. We spotted our problem space and narrowed the target audience to students age 19 to 26.
Research Questions
Do students feel an impact from their phone habits on their study experience and outcomes?
What are the needs and desires students have while studying, that involve their phone?
What factors influence a students willingness and tolerance for postponing phone interaction?
Generative Research Methods and Findings
Through combining complementary research methods I gain a deeper understanding of students’ complex relationships with their phones in a study setting.
LIT REVIEW
GOAL: Discover what is known about the effects of mobile phone use on student learning.
FINDING: Students who interact on their phones while in a learning setting demonstrated a lower comprehension and retention of the subject matter, and lower test scores when tested on the subject matter.
ONLINE SURVEY
GOAL: Identify explicit opportunities and needs by asking users direct questions.
FINDING: Overwhelmingly the students who took the survey believe their school performance suffers from their mobile phone habits—yet despite this awareness, keep their phones turned on while studying.
1:1 CONTEXTUAL INTERVIEWS
GOAL: Gain a deeper more nuanced understanding of the needs and feelings of the user.
FINDING: Students experience elevated stress, feelings of guilt and disappointment as a result of engaging with their phones during studying.
FINDING: Student actions indicate social connectivity is most important, but students feelings reveal doing well in school has greater importance.
FINDING: Most students would welcome help to manage their phone habits.
FLY ON THE WALL OBSERVATION
GOAL: See and record what students actually do in their real-world contexts, versus what they say they do.
FINDING: All students observed had a mobile phone on the table and in plain view during studying.
FINDING: Students tend to check their phone in 5 to 20 minute intervals.
“It’s impossible to ignore a group text!”
—a student to her study partner
RAPID AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHY
GOAL: I intercept random students at the UW library to self-report during their study session, seeking their in-the-moment thoughts and reactions related to the presence of their phone.
FINDING: 7/9 students described their phone as interfering with their study session to varying degrees.
Emerging Themes from Research
Design Principles Derived From Research
As You Wish
The solution must acknowledge the importance students place on being connected to their phone while studying
Empowering
The experience must leave student feeling supported and empowered
Lean and Light
The solution must be a low-to-no burden addition to their lives. Include only essential features & functions to avoid becoming another distraction.
Zero Guilt
Whatever their study performance is that day = no judgement.
Research-Based User Persona
Creating customer models based on actual user interviews was helpful for envisioning the context for when this product would be used. The Motivations/Goals/Frustrations sections facilitate feelings of empathy that are essential to experience design.
Brainstorming a Technical Intervention
We generated ideas for a designed intervention without concern for technical constraints. Ideas ranged from wearables, enhanced spaces, a phone-valet service and VR experience where students meet-up to challenge one another in an endurance competition.
Aha! Moment
Mobile App is the ideal intervention.
From our research we learned the one thing students always have with them while studying is their phone. We realized we will remove barriers to using the intervention we design if our solution is a mobile phone app (somewhat ironically).
Rationale: We want our intended user to have easy access to the intervention we design when they need it.
Ideating primary task flow
Exploring task flow and interactions, planning how this app will work for the user.
I work through ideas quickly by sketching every screen. These drawings facilitate conversations with the team, about content, functionality and UI.
Primary Task Flow ‘Happy Path’
Integrating feedback from low-fi testing I diagram the primary task flow
Concept Validation with Low-fidelity Prototype
I took a paper prototype into the field and tested concept, content and functionality with five student-participants I intercepted during one afternoon at the UW Bookstore.
Feedback From Low-fi Testing: Add Features and Functionality
Thumbs up
Participants expressed they would appreciate and use a tool designed to help them be more intentional with their study time.
Students want more features
Test participants expressed a desire for the below features and functions:
Add a way to track their performance over time
Reward me! The intrinsic reward of performing well is not enough; students desire a symbolic or real reward for their efforts.
Add an on-boarding experience explaining what iFOCUS does, and why they should use it
Outcome from Low-fidelity Testing
More Robust On-boarding Experience
In response to feedback from test participants, I mock-up an on-boarding sequence that quickly explains how, when and why iFocus works.
Maybe a Motion Graphic?
I envision the on-boarding message as a motion graphic and illustrate how this may work.
Wireframe Design
This iteration achieves:
Establishing initial content areas and UI requirements for each screen
Exposing gaps in the screen flow and solving for them
Developing the wireframes is an iterative design process driving towards a simple, intuitive user interactions (UI).
Creating an Appropriate Visual Look and Tone
A visual tone that is upbeat and youthful aligns with project design principles: “lean” “light” and “low burden”.
Next Steps
1. Produce interactive prototypes for each task flow and evaluate with users.
2. Iterate UX/UI design based on user feedback.
3. Finalize a comprehensive high fidelity prototype with specifications for hand off to developer.
Pitching Novel Concepts Through Storytelling
Watch Time: 1m 28s
I developed a design narrative and produced this video (using a primitive mock) to help explain how the iFOCUS app fits into student life.
Working Forward
The objective of this project is to generate an actionable technical intervention in a short time frame through driving an end-to-end UCD process. Working forward I would focus on improving the overall design:
UI/Ix : Research patterns and trends with the goal of creating a UI that is both familiar yet leading edge.
Visual Design: Allocate time to explore mood, color, iconography and with user input create an intentional brand and design system.
Reflection
It struck me that even with our limited resources of time and budget we were able to conduct research that gave us the deeper insights we needed to make something students validated as useful and of value to them.
Relying on user feedback to inform design decisions (vs my own design sensibility) was empowering—I feel confident we identified a need and in response, designed a product users find useful.
The focus of this project was generating an actionable technical intervention through driving an end-to-end UCD project. Working forward I would prioritize improving the Visual and UI design:
UIx: Research patterns and trends to update UI design to be both familiar and cutting edge.
Visual Design: Develop a thoughtful and intentional design system.
